Man indicted on murder charges in Booth Jr. case

PEORIA — A Central Peoria man was indicted Tuesday on charges he shot another man to death last month.

Sean T. Walls, 37, of 5306 N. Longwood Drive is charged with two counts of first-degree murder in the May 24 shooting of Derrick L. Booth Jr., 22, of Peoria. One of the counts alleges that Walls meant to kill Booth, while the other alleges Walls knew Booth could be seriously hurt or killed if shot.

Booth was shot about 2:30 a.m. on the porch of 813 S. Greenlawn Ave. He died about 30 minutes later in the emergency room of a gunshot wound to his chest.

Multiple witnesses told police they saw Walls go up to the porch and shoot at Booth several times. At least two shell casings were found at the scene.

Walls turned himself in a few days later. Two other people went to police on his behalf, saying it was Booth who retrieved a handgun and displayed it to Walls. The two tussled, and Walls told police the gun went off as they were struggling.

At Walls’ bond hearing last month, however, a prosecutor said autopsy results indicated the gun wasn’t in contact with Booth’s body and likely was fired from more than 2 feet away.

Walls faces at least 45 years and possibly up to life in prison if convicted.